Piper High School student wins national Budget Challenge, surprised with a $20,000 scholarship

May 11, 2017 : Annelise Wiens

Piper High School senior Zachary King from Kansas City, Kansas won a $20,000 scholarship for his performance in the H&R Block Budget Challenge, a free financial literacy program that helps teens get real-world ready from the safety of a classroom. The Piper senior is one of five scholarship winners nationwide from the 2017 spring semester and the first from the Kansas City metro area in the program’s three-year history.

“Um, pretty shocked. It’s a lot at once,” King said after receiving the check at a surprise event in the school’s library.

King, a Sporting Kansas City fan, received a second surprise when Tim Melia, goalkeeper for Sporting KC, arrived to offer his congratulations and gifts from Sporting KC, including a personalized jersey and signed soccer ball.

Personal finance education important to teens but not widely available

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Annelise Wiens

Former Editor and Producer

As the former newsroom editor, Annelise Wiens was interested in more than just tax and industry news, but the stories of H&R Block's 80,000 associates, their communities and H&R Block's world headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. Wiens joined H&R Block in 2014 from a public relations agency, where she worked with clients in the financial services industry. Before that, she worked as a communicator for a senior member of the United States House of Representatives. She graduated from Biola University in La Mirada, CA with a bachelor's degree in history.

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